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Battered Woman, ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) Technical Bulletin, Number 124, January 1989

NCJ Number
115085
Date Published
1989
Length
7 pages
Annotation
After defining the 'battered woman,' this bulletin reviews the incidence of woman abuse, its public health impact, its relationship to child abuse, detection, counseling, and legal and emergency issues.
Abstract
A battered woman has been defined as 'any woman over the age of 16 with evidence of physical abuse on at least one occasion at the hands of an intimate male partner.' The U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that 57 percent of 450,000 annual cases of family violence were committed by spouses or ex-spouses and that the wife was the victim in 93 percent of cases. The public health impact can be measured in terms of victim morbidity and injury as well as the cost of treatment for victims, batterers, and the family. Physicians should attempt to identify abuse victims and help them understand the dynamics of the abusive relationship and the dangers posed to themselves and their children. Physicians should offer victims information about available community, social, and legal resouces, their rights under the law, and a plan for dealing with the abusive partner. In discussing counseling, the bulletin focuses on acute intervention, long-term aid and referral, children of abuse victims, the male batterer, and community resources. 25 references, 2 suggested resources for abuse victims.